The Great Architects of Canada: Samuel Maclure

Photo Credit: Brock House

Having done my undergrad in architectural history, I am fascinated by architects in general and one of my favourites has always been the work of west coast architect, Samuel Maclure. The more I learn about and practice the art and methods of architectural renderings and landscape design, the more I come to appreciate Maclure’s work. The previous chapter of our Great Canadian Architects series profiled one of British Columbia’s greatest institutional architects of the early twentieth century, F.M. Rattenbury. So, this chapter will look at British Columbia’s greatest architect of private residences of the same period, Samuel Maclure. The two men often competed against each other for commissions and had even worked on a couple of projects together as co-architects. But, Rattenbury and Maclure could not have been more opposite from each other in almost every aspect from training to achievements to their domestic lives. Maclure was the early “Canadian Dream” in many respects: he was BC born, he was a completely self-taught architect, and his marriage was something that could have made a perfect Hollywood love story. And more importantly, Maclure leaves us a multitude of brilliant examples of west coast inspired Tudor Revival and Arts and Crafts homes throughout southwest British Columbia, most of which are now municipally designated heritage buildings.

Note: Just a fair warning to you all, the following story is a bit long and contains LOTS of photos. When it comes to my love and appreciation of Samuel Maclure, it appears that I just can’t shut up about him!!! 

Photo Credit: Art Find

Photo Credit: University of Victoria Special Collections

Samuel Maclure’s artistic and meticulous attention to detail was unparalleled at the time. He would spend hours with his clients talking to them as people to get a sense of what was important to them in their personal lives in order to create a spectacular dream home. Whereas most architects would produce a few architectural renderings to show front and back elevations, a general overview of room dimensions and a brief discussion of materials to be used, Maclure went much further. His portfolio for each client included several elevation views, room layouts from several angles and, probably his most personal touch, a series of watercolour paintings to show the finished product which included a full set of paintings depicting landscape and interior design. It was this extra touch and attention to detail that made Maclure stand out from so many other residential architects in British Columbia at the time and won him countless commissions. And, despite all this, Maclure was a completely self trained architect.

Photo Credit: BC Archives, D-07506

Maclure was born April 11, 1860 in New Westminster, the capital of the Colony of British Columbia. The province in 1860 was half the size it is now and the lands north of Prince George belonged to the Hudson’s Bay Company. Vancouver Island was a separate British colony, with its capital being Victoria, and the two colonies would not merge until 1858. Thirteen years later, in 1871, British Columbia joined Canadian Confederation and the provincial capital became Victoria. British Columbia owes much of its strong and rapid development in the latter half of the nineteenth century to the coal mining, forestry, fishing and the various gold rush industries. It was the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush of 1858 that brought Maclure’s parents to New Westminster. Maclure’s Scottish father, John, was a Royal Engineer commissioned with helping to build a series of roads and homes in and around New Westminster. Samuel Maclure is reputed to have been the first white child born in New Westminster and before he turned two years old, the town’s population had tripled due to the American influx of gold seekers.

Growing up, Maclure showed great skill as a landscape watercolour artist. He had a particular fondness for creating imaginary English garden designs in front of the local buildings he painted. In 1884, at the age of 24, Maclure had earned up enough money to travel to Pennsylvania to study art at the Spring Garden Institute. While there, he took a side trip to New York City and decided his love of architecture was so strong that he should switch his major. Unfortunately, he had no means of supporting himself scholastically for more than a year and he was forced to return to British Columbia in 1885 where he took up work as a telegraph operator in Victoria by day and taught watercolour lessons to students in the evenings. Every night, Maclure studied architecture by pouring through as many books and manuals that he could get his hands on, practiced his architectural drawings and spoke to as many architects who would agree to meet with him to get their advice and guidance on how to develop his career aspirations. Through it all there was one constant person who encouraged him to pursue his dream of becoming an architect. Her name was Margaret Simpson.

Photo Credit: New Westminster Library Archives

Margaret, or Daisy as she was known to everyone, was herself a gifted watercolour artist specialising in portraits, particularly the First Nations people who lived along the BC coast. The two had met at a church social in Victoria where her father was a pastor. Immediately Maclure offered to teach Simpson watercolour lessons in order for the two to spend time together. However, Simpson’s parents were not keen on Maclure as he was 10 years older and only had a minimal paying telegraph operator’s salary. When he asked if he could marry Daisy, her parents refused. Not willing to give up, the two devised a different plan. Maclure decided it was time to take a giant leap of faith to start his own architectural practice in New Westminster and she would join him there where they planned to marry in secret. But first, Daisy had to escape the watchful eyes of her step-father and brother. She cleverly disguised herself as an old woman, complete with wrinkles she painted onto her face with her watercolours, and dressed in shabby, old clothing with a walking cane. She then hobbled down slowly to the only ferry boat that connected Victoria with the BC Mainland. Because Daisy did not turn up at the dinner table that night, and knowing she made her intentions of marrying Maclure very vocal in the past, her angry step-father sent her brother down to the ferry to look for her. He had scanned through the crowd looking for Daisy but didn’t see her. Yet, he was unaware that Daisy had hobbled right past him, head covered with a shawl and carrying her cane, to find a seat on the ferry. Simpson and Maclure were reunited in New Westminster and married within a few days. With each supporting the other throughout their marriage, the Maclures went on to develop illustrious careers in architecture and portrait painting in their own right.

Samuel Maclure’s first partnership was with New Westminster architect, Clarence H. Clow, from 1889 -1892. Here, he learned the business side of architecture and some of the people Maclure solicited were those he had grown up around. There are only a few examples left of Maclure’s work in New Westminster because a devastating fire had destroyed nearly half the city in 1898, including many of his first commissions in the old downtown core. Luckily, however, two that did survive are his very first commissions with Clow and they are believed to be the two oldest examples of purpose built rental accommodation left in the Greater Vancouver Region.

Photo Credit: City of New Westminster Heritage Planning Department

These two side by side homes are named the Maria Keary Cottages which were built in 1889 for the widow of James Keary, a Royal Engineer who had worked with Maclure’s father. The Maria Keary Cottages are fine examples of modest Queen Anne Revival dwellings built for an owner of modest wealth. It is believed that these Cottages were heavily influenced by the architectural patterns books that were very popular at the time yet they show some indications of Maclure’s development as an architect. Two years later, in 1891, Maclure was commissioned to build a similar style home for Vancouver physician A.E. Hill. This time, Maclure made use of decorative shingle work which showed a further progression in his architectural skills and development. Unfortunately, this home was demolished in 1974 to make way for modern housing, but photographic records left behind show us the fine detail in the shingling work that Maclure had earned a solid reputation for in New Westminster.

Photo Credit: New Westminster Library Archives

In 1891, Maclure formed a short-lived partnership with another area architect, Richard Sharp, and was commissioned to build the English Corners Mansion which marked a great shift in Maclure’s architectural style and sensibilities.

The English Corners Mansion was completed in 1892 for English born Marshall Martin English, one of the most powerful figures of the BC salmon canning industry. English operated a number of canning facilities along the Fraser River from New Westminster to Steveston and his mansion heralded the emergence of a new wealthy elite in late nineteenth century Vancouver. The house was built in the Queen’s Park area of New Westminster, which is still considered to be the city’s most prestigious residential neighbourhood. But it wasn’t the house’s sheer size that helped to cement Maclure’s reputation as an architect. It was the architectural style. The Arts and Crafts Movement was sweeping England in the late nineteenth century and was founded by reformer and designer William Morris and was based heavily on the social reform ideas of John Ruskin. The basic principal of the Arts and Crafts Movement was good craftsmanship would lead to a good society. Ruskin, Morris and their contemporaries believed that the mass production mills of the Industrial Revolution created a disassociation of the people from good quality products, so they argued for the creation of a northern European artistic movement to counterbalance this perceived breakdown of the social and artistic order. The Movement drew many influences from the Medieval Trades Guild system and its forms were generally rectilinear and angular, with stylised decorative motifs reminiscent of medieval design. Many Arts and Crafts homes combined several materials such a wood and stone or brick while most interiors were decorated with 4×4 or 6×6 ceiling broad beams, highly detailed wood panelled walls and a floor to ceiling open space that formed the main gallery of the home.  These interior details are seen in many Medieval and Tudorbethan buildings in England today. The Arts and Crafts Movement also took into consideration the position of the house upon the land and how the house related to the environment around it. Taking some of the gardening principals of Inigo Jones and Capability Brown, garden placement and design was also a key component of the Arts and Crafts style. It was in this style which Samuel Maclure excelled and he brought a distinctively west coast feel to his designs by incorporating native products such as Douglas Fir, Western Red Cedar, the Pacific Dogwood, Island perennials and other local materials such as Gabriola Island sandstone and granite.

Photo Credit: Lorriane Brecht

English Corners is the earliest surviving example of Maclure’s use of the Arts and Crafts style. Inside, the house has coffered cedar ceilings, a massive maple stairs case, a cedar panelled dining room and a two story open central hall also lined with cedar panelling. The exterior boasts stucco and half timbered gable ends, which was a common Maclure trademark, and the original double hung, one over one cedar windows. The house is made of wood and sits on a red brick foundation and has been meticulously maintained by the current owners. Maclure won quite a bit of notoriety for this home and he was beginning to entertain offers from those in Victoria who wanted to contract his services. The timing was right as Sharp didn’t believe the Arts and Crafts Movement would last and he was at odds with Maclure about taking on such projects. Maclure was growing further disillusioned as Sharp was charging clients an extra surcharge on top of the regular fees for his watercolour renderings in addition to the master plans. Maclure felt the clients deserved such attention to detail and argued that a client was more likely to buy a product if they could see it in a completed stage. Seeing that her husband’s business partnership with Sharp was becoming strained, Daisy urged Maclure to strike out on his own. The young family decided to return to Victoria where Maclure set up his own practice and Daisy became very active in the local arts and music scene.

Photo Credit: City of Victoria Planning Department

Maclure’s first commission in Victoria was the Temple Building, one of his only commercial designs. It is considered one of Victoria’s finest commercial landmarks because of its integration of unglazed red terra cotta and red brick design. Yet, Maclure would not be known for his commercial designs but for his residential works in Victoria and in particular those in Rockland, a neighbourhood specifically designed to be home to Victoria’s powerful and wealthy. Bank managers, entrepreneurs, court magistrates and high ranking politicians built their mansions in Rockland to display their wealth and community status. Several architects worked on homes in Rockland, but it was Maclure’s Arts and Crafts and Tudor Revival designs that came to dominate the area. Rockland is also home to other local landmarks such as Craigdarroch Castle and Government House, which was built by Maclure and Francis Mawson Rattenbury in 1903 and subsequently burned down in 1957. By 1905, Maclure had earned such a solid reputation for his splendid garden designs and beautiful homes that BC’s wealthiest man approached him to submit designs for his dream home. That man was James Dunsmuir and he was looking to build a castle that would rival both his father’s Craigdarroch Castle and every other castle in Europe. It has been said that architects like Rattenbury wined and dined Dunsmuir for days in the hope of winning the Hatley Castle project. However, Maclure, always a modest, unassuming figure known for his quiet and humble kindness and fine knowledge of the arts, simply approached Dunsmuir one afternoon with a portfolio of his designs complete with watercolour renditions of the finished Castle and its gardens. The two men talked then made some revisions and by the end of the day, Maclure got the contract. Dunsmuir was so impressed with Maclure’s attention to detail and refined knowledge of interior design that he paid for a trip for both Samuel and Daisy to London, England to buy furniture for the home. Hatley Castle would be Maclure’s largest project and would win him further contracts to build other fine homes for members of the extended Dunsmuir family.

Photo Credit: Heritage Victoria

Photo Credit: BC Archives D-03026

Hatley Castle would catapult Maclure to the top of the architectural world in British Columbia for residential designs. He suddenly was fielding requests from Vancouver and Victoria for his designs and he simple couldn’t keep up with the demand. He hired a young draftsman, Cecil Croker Fox, to assist him and eventually Maclure opened an office in Vancouver with Fox in charge. But by 1914, when the Great War started, an economic recession swept Canada and it affected Maclure. To make matters worse, Fox went off to war and was killed in the trenches in 1916, leaving Maclure with no one to operate the Vancouver office. Devastated by the loss of Fox and with the economic climate, Maclure was forced to sell some of his watercolours to earn a living while Daisy taught music lessons. The years following the war saw a gradual decline in Victoria of the social elite and the fast spending on large homes began to wane. Maclure was increasingly getting smaller and smaller homes to design. It was a different story in Vancouver, however, and Maclure was able to reopen the office in 1920. He would go on to create a number of large scale projects including many in Shaughnessey, Vancouver’s wealthiest neighbourhood.

Photo Credit: Heritage Vancouver

At this time, Maclure’s garden designs were becoming internationally known and he had been profiled in such popular magazines of the day as Country Life, Studio, Craftsman and the Canadian Architect and Builder. So popular were his garden designs that Jennie Foster Butchart asked him to design some of the gardens now displayed at Victoria’s famous Butchart Gardens. Other work in the 1920s also included designing the extensions, landscaping, and interior decorating on existing luxury homes and mansions. By 1925, Maclure’s health was beginning to slowly deteriorate. He died in 1929 from complications arising from prostate surgery. His architectural practice in Victoria was sold off while his Vancouver business partner, Ross Anthony Lort, continued operation with his son until his death in 1968.

Photo Credit: Lotus Johnson

Photo Credit: Lotus Johnson

Throughout his career, Maclure produced over 350 commissions. He leaves a legacy of well crafted homes where every attention to detail, inside and out, was taken into consideration. His half timbered, shingled style is said to have influenced the great American architect, and friend, Frank Lloyd Wright with his own designs. Maclure’s imaginative use of local building materials and strong medieval tones, help neighbourhoods like Shaughnessey and Rockland retain their distinctly British feel and will no doubt continue to be highly sought after properties for many generations to come.

Photo Credit: New Westminster Library Archives

Photo Credit: New Westminster Library Archives

I’d like to extend a special thanks to the Planning Departments from the Cities of New Westminster, Vancouver and Victoria, the New Westminster Library Archives and the University of Victoria’s Samuel Maclure fonds for the great information. Finally, for an excellent book on Maclure and his works, please check out The Buildings of Samuel Maclure: in search of appropriate form by acclaimed Victoria art historian, Martin Segger.

Architectural history Architectural Styles, Arts and Crafts, British Columbia, built heritage, Canadian Architects, Dunsmuir, F.M.Rattenbury, luxury home, Samuel Maclure, Tudor Revival, Vancouver, Victoria